


Fire and Ice

by Drakochan



Category: Exalted, Exalted: Rise of the Scarlet Throne
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-03
Updated: 2014-05-03
Packaged: 2018-01-21 18:12:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1559474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Drakochan/pseuds/Drakochan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rebel and one-time-traitor Mnemon Sextes Jylar has been the object of Nissica's mission through orders from the All-Seeing-Eye for months, but now that she has left the Realm, and has likely been branded a traitor herself, she finds that her feelings for Jylar are more than just an objective.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fire and Ice

"I don't understand why everyone is so upset. I saved the Emperor." The defeated slump of Jylar's shoulders drew a long, hard stare from Nissica. He had the grace to look at least somewhat penitent when he caught the Fire Aspect glaring in his direction. "Thank you for joining me," he added, flushing slightly, though the faint tint of pink was still a beacon on his features.

"I am relatively certain the upset comes with the fact that you have outright lied to us about this. And you are better company than your sister and her companions, or that drunken sot masquerading as the Emperor for the night." She took a long slow sip of her wine, apparently disinterested in anything the sorcerer might have to say.

"Ah," he replied, and returned to his intent consideration of the table. "So you are cross with me as well."

"I rather suspected slapping you would clear any confusion about that matter up." Nissica peered across the table at the Air Aspect with a wry arch of her brows.

"I am merely trying to do what's best for Creation," Jylar said haughtily, drawing himself up, letting out an indignant huff. "And I was not certain I could trust you at the time. I have never been sure where your loyalties lie, and you have been remarkable at hiding your emotions up to this point. I am not even sure where…" His voice faltered, and he shifted, drawing himself up as he stood, folding his hands behind him neatly. "I am not sure where I stand with you. Where… we stand."

"We?" Nissica almost laughed, and rose, the wine glass teetering dangerously as she swept up from the table, fingers twitching to pull the blades that kept her hair in its artful swoop up off her neck and show him just where _they_ stood. "How dare _you_ question my loyalty to the throne. _You_ , who decided your best option would be to commit treason by sitting on that damn throne while Lysander was off fighting a war." She took a deep breath, and she felt her skin heat with the emotion that flared in her. Anger always came so hot and fast, flaring in a sudden blaze.

"I was a fool and I was wrong. I have had a long time to consider my folly in that, and I regret it every day," Jylar snapped, the air suddenly chilling, drawing bumps up along Nissica's arms. "Do you think if I still harbored any ill-will towards that man, I would have saved his life?"

"This is not about Lysander, this is about your loyalty to the Scarlet Throne. Your loyalty to the Realm, and your family." She regretted the words immediately as Jylar's shoulders stiffened, and he did not turn to face her. But she had meant them, and there was no time for regret, only the truth. "I have sworn my life to the All-Seeing Eye. My life, my loyalty, is in them, and by proxy, to the throne, and it matters not who sits it, so long as they lead well."

"And your moonlighting for the interests of Cynis?" Jylar snapped, pale eyes flashing with anger.

"They raised me and gave me all that I have," Nissica snapped right back. "Your loyalty to your sister despite your best judgment should prove any point I try to make."

"Do not bring Belladonna into this," Jylar snapped, and strode a step towards the Fire Aspect, the chill in the air suddenly growing sharp, like the first frost of winter, crisp and chilling.

"You have made this about family, and you have questioned my loyalty," Nissica snapped right back, closing the rest of the distance, the heat of her skin steaming in the suddenly winter-cold air. "And I will not stand for it. I have lived my whole life trying to live up to the oaths I've sworn to the Throne, to my family, and to all those that fall under my protection. You have taken me from all that, and I am…" The word came hard, her lip curling with distaste, "grateful for it, but that does not mean I will be your simpering follower. I do not know what draws all those who follow you to do so," she did not falter, her breath coming in short, angry huffs, "But I have fallen into that spell it seems, because I believe in your rebellion."

The shock in Jylar's face was infuriating, and she shifted her eyes away from his, making the mistake of staring instead at his lips, parted just slightly in his surprise at the sudden fury in her words, or perhaps the declaration of her loyalty. Damn it all.

Before she even realized fully what she was doing, her fingers shifted to wrap around the back of Jylar's neck, pulling herself forward into a kiss, arching her body up against his thin frame. He tensed immediately, but the hard grip of her hands on his neck seemed to convince him that he wanted instead to lean back into the kiss, hands moving to rest hesitantly on her waist, and she drew back after a long moment, breath quavering with the intensity of her anger.

She wasn't quite ready to admit the other emotion, niggling just at the edges of her awareness. There was no time for such softness, and besides, it was foolish and she was not a fool, to fall for the man you had been ordered to watch. Nissica was not some corner-store romance novel, and there were larger things at hand than this.

Jylar opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again at the sharp look from Nissica. She felt her jaw tense, and he flinched backwards when she reached up, pulling the handles of the baneclaws from her hair, letting it spill down around her shoulders in a wave, and a moment later the jade weapons clattered to the floor.

She didn't speak as she pressed fingertips against Jylar's chest, and he had the good sense not to either, obliging as she pushed slightly, advancing and steering him towards the overly elaborate bed in the room, the whole building like a testament to the pride of Dynasts. Just like rebels from the Imperial City to set up in a mansion in the city that was coming under the fire of the Imperial Legions…

Jylar stumbled as the back of his knees hit the bed, and glanced at it, then back at Nissica with wide eyes.

"Don't you say a damn word," Nissica said, her voice a contrasting mix of softness and the hard edge of her anger. "Just… don't."

He seemed to be opening his mouth, then thought better at it, lips closing again as Nissica took a step back, fingers making quick work of the belt that held the loose top closed, the sides falling open to bare a long pale line of skin down her front, and a moment later, the lacings on the simple breeches that she had donned, the outfit just elegant enough that it could pass for formal, but easy to move in, should she have been called upon by the All Seeing Eye. Instead, she had stood while the Empress declared war on everything that Lysander had ever tried to stand for, and in doing so, the people she had, annoyingly, come to think of as friends. It was almost a relief to be free of the duty along with the garb.

Ice-blue eyes had never strayed from her face, never venturing lower than the pendant that sat in the hollow of her throat. The boots slid off easily, soft leather releasing its shape-forming hold along her legs, cast aside along with the pants. She saw Jylar swallow, and laughed, a quiet scoff, one corner of her lips pulled up in a smirk.

"You can look, just don't speak."

Bare feet were silent as she closed the distance once more, shrugging the robe from her shoulders to allow it to puddle in a pile of silken fabric behind her as she kissed Jylar again, softer this time. This time, she let her lips linger, tongue tracing the line of his thin lips before he granted her entrance, a soft sound escaping into her mouth as she slid fingers between them to forcibly loosen the lacings on his pants, intending to free the swell she felt within where their hips pressed together.

A hand, cold to the touch against her heated skin pressed against the small of her back, the other cupping gently around a breast as Jylar seemed to settle into the kiss. Good, he wasn't as cold as his aspect suggested…

The chill in the room had faded abruptly, leaving only the chill of his skin. Was he always so cold to the touch? Nissica hummed thoughtfully into the kiss, and broke it a moment later to pull his shirt up and over his head, her eyes meeting his, and time seemed to crawl as their gazes were locked together. Nissica let out a breath, and nodded towards the bed.

Jylar was eager to oblige, sliding back up onto the coverlet, followed a moment later by the Fire Aspect. Her voice was low, smoky and heated like a banked fire. "So long as you don't say anything stupid, I suppose you can speak," she murmured, sweeping her hair back over one shoulder as she slid up onto the bed after him, anger focused now into the heat of her movements, into the press of her kiss against his narrow chest, pale skin marked by the tint from her lips.

"You are a remarkable woman," Jylar breathed, chilled fingers brushing her hair from her face, tucking it tenderly behind an ear.

"Hmm, that's acceptable," she purred with a smirk, drawing a faint smile from the Air Aspect as well. He sat up slightly, fingers moving down to her hips, her own fingers guiding him as she settled atop him. Spirits and Dragons, she had underestimated how much she wanted this. The low sound she drew from his lips as she shifted stirred her own voice, their kiss some mix of slow reverence and heated passion.

Nissica had made a life of this, from the time she was old enough for it to be socially acceptable, she had worked in the brothels, first as a mere servant, then as another of the girls that made a living with their bodies. Even after she had Exalted, she had expected little else of her life, once she had settled down after her journey away from the provincial city that was the seat of Cynis's most infamous influence, the House of High Waves in Pangu along the Xianyu Coast, when she had ended up recruited by the All Seeing Eye and living in the Imperial City.

Hesitant hands, chilled in comparison to her skin, passed across her hips and upward, haltingly as they reached the swell of her breasts, even as he gasped softly into her mouth at the roll of her hips. She pressed her hands over his, guiding them in their unsure motions. The Air Aspect pulled out of the kiss to let out a low moan, and Nissica hummed in pleasure as she found a rhythm with her hips, her hands coming to rest on his shoulders.

"Are you sure—" Jylar's words were muffled a moment later with the sharp press of her lips and tongue, pulling away a moment later even as he trailed after her, a moan of protest following.

"Shh, I thought I told you, nothing stupid," she breathed, voice low and husky, a smirk flitting across her features. She hummed in pleasure, leaning over his form again, pressing kisses across pale shoulders. She held back from marking the skin that reminded her of porcelain, her own still a few shades darker, even as pale as she was. Perhaps it was the stark black of his hair or the paleness of his eyes, cold and icy, but not so cold now, hooded and fixed unflinchingly on her face, his hand abandoning the gentle massage of her breast to close around a handful of her hair, thick waves that fell around her face.

He didn't pull, to his credit, though she might not have minded it. The whole experience had turned out strangely sweet even for the anger that had prefaced their first kiss. She followed the line of his pulse up his throat, to his jawline, his hips finding the motion to meet hers finally, and drawing a soft moan from her lips, her nails biting just slightly into his skin. He was clearly not experienced, but there was something to be said for enthusiasm. His heated breaths tickled across her skin as she hovered just before his face, not quite kissing, simply breathing one another's air, intimate in a way that she had never thought such things could be, not since her young, foolish romance with that other young courtesan in the palatial brothel her family ran.

There was, she had to admit, a certain pleasure in the knowledge that the act was purely for oneself, no ulterior motives anymore, as she was far from anyone that would care of her reports on the rebel Mnemon Sextes Jylar. She had been lying for some time, as it was. When had the world turned so upside-down?

Thoughts abandoned her in a flare of pleasure, her eyes searching Jylar's face, watching as his head tilted back as they moved as one. She let her tongue trace the line of his throat, tasting the faint tang of sweat and something that reminded her of the crispness in the air just before it snowed. A switch seemed to be sprung, as this time it was Jylar that initiated the kiss, the scrape of teeth on her lips urging her to speed her hips, drawing more quiet moans from her lover.

It was endearing, annoyingly so, how quiet and careful he was. Heavens forbid anyone know he was enjoying himself. Nissica let out a quiet laugh, leaning in close to his ear.

"You don't have to be so quiet on my account," she purred, pressing down and arching her back and making a slight motion with her hips that had undone many before Jylar. His responding moan was louder, and he met her gaze as she sat back.

"It's not… ah… I just don't—" There was a sound that was half an exclamation of surprise and half pleasure as she repeated the motion, and his hands shifted to her hips, fingertips lingering there for a moment, then drifting down to her thighs. Fingertips pressed into muscle as she moved again, resuming the steady pace, letting Jylar find his rhythm again along with her.

Nissica could feel the telltale tension sing through him, his hips arching harder into hers for a few thrusts before he let out a strangled moan, and she was glad for her continued dosing of the tea that would prevent his seed from taking root as he released suddenly. His breath came in heavy pants as he settled back against the bed, his eyes closed, so when she leaned in to press a light kiss to the corner of his lips, he opened them again, surprise apparent on his face.

He flushed suddenly, and glanced away, and Nissica smiled to herself as she noticed the flush went all the way down his neck, coloring down to just below his collarbones.

"I do apologize, I…" His gaze met hers briefly, before fluttering away again. "It has been some time."

"You will just have to make it up to me in some other way," Nissica said with a touch of humor.

Jylar was silent for a few long breaths, and she could feel the pound of his heart against his ribs against her skin where she'd settled atop him, her fingers lacing through his dark hair.

"So… There will be more?" The hesitant question in his voice made her let out a sound of exasperation.

"If I have any say in it, I intend there to be much more. For one, you need to make up for lying to me." She smirked as she peered into eyes that were, despite the coldness of their hue, filled with warmth to rival the heat of her passions. "Against my better judgment, I am afraid I may have fallen for you," she murmured, and let out a long sigh. "I do not intend to let you escape so easily, after all that. It takes a very… extraordinary man to catch my attention as fully as you have managed."

This time the kiss she pressed against his lips was gentle and insistent, simmering with heat that she might compare to a banked fire, waiting only for a slight amount of fuel to bring it to a burning bonfire again…

"It would be my honor," Jylar replied as she pulled back, and didn't shift his gaze from her face as she moved, settling onto the coverlet beside him, her elbow propped against a pillow, palm against her temple, a wry arch of her brows at the words. "To make up any wrongs I may have inflicted on you." He seemed hesitant at first, but his hand settled on her hip, and he leaned forward, an experimental press of lips against her neck.

He proved, to Nissica's surprise, quite capable once his nerves subsided, finding herself arching into deft fingers a short time later, his name falling from her lips once like a plea just before she muffled her own soft moans in a kiss. The day's travel and strain had taken their toll, on both of them, and long before the candle guttered out in the lamp, they slept, tangled together in a way that Nissica found she quite liked, though she had never allowed it with anyone since her foolish youth, not so far past, but it felt like eons ago, Jylar's cool skin pressed against hers beneath the layers of sheet and blanket, and she had not slept so soundly since before she had begun this mad mission, her fingers combed through surprisingly fine strands of dark hair, the tickle of his breath on her cheek lulling her to sleep, despite herself.


End file.
